Surrender
by 25rhieannerain
Summary: Max had saved Alec's life on more than one occasion so the latter decides to the the same for her when the need arises. Fortunately for him, Alec couldn't do the job without being the one who ultimately needs saving.
1. Pouring Crimson

**Surrender**

**by: 25rhieannerain**

**DISCLAIMER: Like I said in the other story, if Alec was mine, I wouldn't be writing a love story about him and Max. He'll go straight to my bedroom, and maybe we'll have some "tickle wars" there or something.**

**A/N: Have A LOT of Dark Angel M/A stories swimming in my head at night. This is just one of the many ones I've managed to pen down and since I haven't received any reviews for the first DA fic I posted here yet, I figured I should post this, see if hurt!Alec elicits more interest from readers and maybe I'd discontinue the other one. Nothing special, nothing original, nothing exciting - just some macabre plot-bunny that oozed inside my brain a few months ago.**

_o0o_

Max wasn't sure how it happened...

She was doing just fine, beating the crap out of four burly men (who were no doubt active members of the "gotta-kill-them-freaks" fan club) who thought they got the balls to take out a tired, incredibly pissed female transgenic who wanted nothing more than to walk in peace and clear her head.

She had just bashed a tattooed guy's skull with her Cro-Magnon one when Alec – her smart slash dumb Alec, materialized out of nowhere, blurring in a millisecond right in front of her, arms outstretched as if attempting to envelop her in an embrace.

And then she heard it – the horrifying, surreal sound of Alec growling in pain as an 8-inch sharp metal sliced through his back and sprung out of his left chest, leaving a gleam of agony in his usually bright emerald eyes as they widened in shock. And then, with equal cruelty, the object was withdrawn from his broken flesh with a twist.

"Alec!" Max shouted harshly, seizing his shoulders instantly as his knees gave way.

Currently stunned by his feat, the bald man who had plunged a dagger through Alec's back started backing away slowly, but before he could even contemplate the consequences of what he had just done, the female freak was already on her feet, cocking a gun which she had eased off the fallen man's jacket. He turned around, hoping his three companions would be able to back him up, but all three of them were dead to the world at the moment.

A single shot was fired and a bullet grazed the sleeve of the man's jacket, leaving a tiny patch of blood in its wake. The freak didn't want to kill him in cold blood, even after what he did to her friend. That shot had been a cue, and he did exactly what her gaze told him to – he ran like hell and didn't look back.

Sensing that no one was threatening their lives anymore, Max collapsed back to where she had left Alec lying on the ground - taking in his state. It had only been minutes but already the X5 was lying on a pool of his blood – his face drained of colour, his breathing laboured. The blade missed his heart by an inch or two, but the wounds were massive enough that every blood it pumped went out both ways.

"Hey, Hey, Alec, you hear me? What the hell have you done you idiot?" Max bellowed as she slightly tapped Alec's left cheek with her fingers, her voice strong and vulnerable at the same time.

"I got myself... stabbed in the back... for... you, M-Maxie. That's w-what I've done." Alec stuttered in between jagged breaths and hard swallows, a dampened version of his perpetual smart-aleck smirk lingering in his blood-coated lips.

"You moron! Idiot! What have you done?" she repeated, still unable to fathom the fact that Alec had just used his body as a shield to protect her. She pulled her hand away from his cheek then and began to press his chest and his back with both hands in a pathetic attempt to staunch the rapid bleeding.

"Well I... just wanted to know what's... worse, being... stabbed in the back figuratively or... literally. Turns out both hurt... like a bitch."

"Okay... okay," Max stammered, tucking a stray hair in her ear. "Just ... don't talk, all right? Save your breath. I'll call for help."

Hands trembling as if she was about to have a seizure, Max fumbled for her phone. When she finally got a hold of it, she quickly punched Mole's number. The trembling of her hands abated slightly when Mole answered right after the first ring.

"Talk to me." Mole breathed, words coming out as if an object was wedged between his teeth – most probably his ever-present cigar.

"It's me. Listen, Alec's badly hurt. We're a bit far from Command and he won't be able to walk. Send us help ASAP, you hear? Our GPS's are on, you should be able to track us right away. Send us help, and please hurry!" Max ordered without even pausing, the tone of her voice ranging from urgency to worry to despair.

"What? What the hell happe—"

"Just do it and stop asking, all right? He's... dying." she cut him off mid-sentence even as she winced at her own choice of word, not wanting this call to turn into a full-blown argument when Alec was running out of time... running out of blood... and especially not when all of this had been her fault - when she rashly stormed out of Command in the middle of the night all because a cocky female X5 shattered her psyche by questioning the strength and effectiveness of her leadership.

"All right, I'll send help ASAP." Mole assured before clicking his phone shut.

"I'm not dying... Maxie. You're such a... worry-wart." Alec whimpered even as dark blotches clouded his vision.

"Yeah, that's right. You're not dying. Help's on the way. You just gotta hang in there, all right?" Max reassured both of them as she shrugged out of her jacket, endeavouring to press it on the wound on Alec's back which was bleeding more profusely than the one in his chest.

"God, Alec, what have you done?" she said in a breathy whisper, not even aware that this had been the third time he'd ask him the same question.

"I saved you from... having to deal with a... lop-sided... ugh... chest... for... the rest... of your life, M-max. Logan would be... turned-off, you know?" he stammered with a smile, trying with all his might to hide the excruciating pain that breathing and talking required by acting like a smart-ass, by acting like he would when he told Max his favourite 'I'm always all right' mantra, by acting like the typical Alec would.

Max would've spanked the back of Alec's head for that remark, but right now, peeling her hands off his injured chest was the last mistake she wanted to do tonight. Right now, Alec was a faucet, pouring out crimson red... pouring out an ounce of his life every passing minute. Spanking would have to wait; he had to be in perfect condition for the "Wrath of Hurricane Max". There's going to be a time for it.

_**Of course, there's going to be waiting... conditioning... **__**time**__**. The ultimate pain-in-the-ass isn't going to die on me, not now. Not after all we've been through.**_

"Max,"

"Don't... don't talk, Alec. Please, save your breath."

_**Damn it, where the hell is that rescue?**_

"Maxie,"

"Sshh.. don't talk now, Alec, please? I know you love to talk. But you gotta love your own life better than talking in the meantime, okay?" Max cajoled, attempting a weak smile.

Alec nodded minutely, and then, "Th-thanks."

"For what?" she raised an eyebrow, coaxing him to fill in the blanks even when she'd just told him to save his breath.

"You do... care for me... after all. You don't... want this daily... pain-in-the-ass... to die."

"Of course I care! Why do you think I kept saving your ass in the past?"

"Yeah... That's why I... figured I needed to... do the... ass-saving thing... for... a change. To... settle the score."

"Wait a sec!" Max hollered, her voice sounding incredulous "So you followed me all the way in the streets because you thought I needed saving?"

Alec nodded rather feebly. He was weaker now than he had been awhile ago, probably weaker than he had ever been in his 20 years of life. Max had never seen him so vulnerable like this, and it broke her heart to see him like this.

Most of all, it broke her heart to think that her juvenile behaviour was the reason why Alec was fighting for his dear life right now.

As if feeling the guilt gnawing on Max's insides like it was his own, Alec raised a trembling hand and placed it on top of the hand that was pressing the wound on his chest. Almost instantly, Max snapped out of her reverie; her eyes now staring intently at the green-gold emerald orbs that were currently being eclipsed by very long eyelashes.

"You can't die, Alec. I"

"I don't want to die... Max. Still... have to... live... to love you."

_o0o_

**Tell me whether to continue or not. ;) Thank you!**


	2. You Can't Abandon Me

A/N: So sorry for the very short chapter update. I'm kinda focused with my** Dark Angel/Supernatural crossover story "Never Was And Never Will Be"** so I hadn't had the time to update for so long. THIS CHAPTER COULD STILL CHANGE. I know there's still a lot of things to add. I'll update this again (that is... if you want me to!). In the mean time, you might want to check the other fic that I mentioned. It's a combined effort between me and author **Oyaji Murakami** so it would be awesome to know what you think of it. Promises of more hurt!alec scenes in that story assured. *WINKS*

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Just this little story so don't rub it in!

_o0o_

"I don't want to die... Max. Still... have to... live... to love you."

It was Alec who was lying on a pool of his lifeblood, but it was Max's heart – _Zack's_ heart inside her chest that abruptly stopped beating.

"What?" Max choked out – emotions gripping her chest like a vice.

Alec's blood-coated lips remained clamped at Max's quivering voice of disbelief. Whether he was trying to shut out his pain or deflecting her question, Max wasn't sure.

She felt the incredible urge to demand that Alec explain himself to her. But given the fact that she was the one who actually told him to save his breath, not to mention that Alec's breathing sounded dangerously irregular, she restrained herself – unconsciously adding unnecessary pressure to Alec's chest wound which elicited a strangled moan of pain from the injured X5.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!" Max cried out vehemently. If she wasn't trying to keep the guy alive with her bare hands, she would have pulled her hair out for being so careless.

"You want to... kill me for... saying I love you?" Alec gasped out, expelling blood from his mouth in the process. "I'm... compli...cating.. th-things.. f-for you?"

"You _love_ me?" Max asked incredulously, unbidden tears glistening in her soulful cocoa-brown eyes as she watched Alec divulge his true feelings for her around a mouth full of blood.

Alec wasn't talking again, but this time he didn't look like he was deflecting or conserving his strength. He simply looked... resigned, as if he was prepared to just die then and there in her arms. His beautiful, gold-flecked green eyes which were usually roaring with life like green balls of fire looked like the lights were literally dying out of them little by little.

"No, no, NO! Alec, stay with me, please?" Max implored, her tears falling to mix with the blood in Alec's chest.

"Want to," Alec admitted dismally, his eyes no longer focused on anything. "But can't"

"Yes you _can_!" Max shouted with as much conviction as she could muster, attempting to reassure herself more than him.

"Because if you don't," she continued, her voice breaking with each word. "I'll... I'll smash your beloved bike to smithereens!"

Alec's lips curled into a small smile as he shot a brief glance at the beloved green Suzuki stashed haphazardly in a corner. He winced as the slight movement temporarily robbed him off his vision.

"Take care o' her," Alec muttered, eyes starting to drift shut. But before he could close them completely, he felt a force in his lips both strong and gentle in proportion. His eyes widened in an instant as he realized what it was.

Max's lips... pressed in _his_. The sweetness of her kiss mingling with the coppery hint of his blood seemed like the most wonderful taste - better than his favourite brand of expensive scotch that by the time Max pulled away, his senses were overloaded.

"You can't die, you dumbass," Max managed around the shards of glass on her throat. "You still owe me one ass kicking."

"M'I dead?" Alec asked, confusion written all over his pale features.

"No," she said simply, smiling in spite of herself as Alec's expression turned from complete resignation to utter bewilderment. "Like I told you, I still oughta kick your ass for the stupid superhero routine so you're not allowed to die just yet."

"Going t-to kick... my ass... for... saving y-yours?"

"And look whose ass needs saving in the end!"

Alec's head lolled to the side, but a full smile was etched on his blood-smeared face as he relished the evanescent feel of Max's luscious lips on his. "M'dead and... already... in... in heaven... M-maxie. Find some other... ass... t-to kick."

Just when he was about to close his eyes again at the realization of what he thought was _his _heaven, he felt the force a second time but there was no gentleness in it, just wholesome passion and _need_. The hands pressing his wounded chest harsher as the kiss intensified made him want to cry out but God help him, he'd willingly take the pain if it meant that this glorious contact would not end.

_Is this real enough for you?_

_You look so confused_

_Now, if you decide to stay_

_We'll remain together_

_You can't abandon me_

_You belong to me_

_Breathe in and take my life in you_

_No longer myself, only you_

_There's no escaping me, my love_

_Surrender_

_-**Evanescence**-_

___o0o_

More to come if you readers want me to do so. Please R&R! GOD BLESS YOU!


	3. Whisper

A/N#1: Yohoo! Anybody home? Haha! Just trying to figure out if readers are still here to read my crap. Once again, I am terribly sorry for the very slow update! I've been really busy with exams and school and all. But now that I'm back, I made it a point to take this chapter very seriously (anyways, I do take writing fan fiction seriously) and asked from a professional in writing down all medical stuff.

A/N#2: I guess I'll be doing this in my A/N section from now on (just because I want to). I'll be posting some "recommended stories" in here. As an author who doesn't get that much reviews, I know what it feels like and it ain't good. So, I guess it's going to be my mission in life (as a fan fic writer at least) to help boost reviews for other authors whose works I think are under-appreciated. Let's start off with a Dark Angel story: **"Shelter In The Storm" by author Siara Elen**. I think it's one of the most beautiful and believable M/A stories I have ever read so I really think you should check the story out.

A/N#3: I may not have that much reviewers, but I can proudly say that I have the best cyber sisters that any girl could ask for! This chapter wouldn't have been written so masterfully if it wasn't for author **charmcrystal**! Sister, I hope you know how much I love ya! Thank you very, very much for sharing your expertise! I hope these readers here check out your first ever fan fiction as well. :)

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Just this highly unoriginal, highly under-appreciated and highly unspectacular piece of fan fiction. If Alec was mine, everything would be just beautiful! *sighs*

_o0o_

Max wasn't sure how long she and Alec had been sharing that beautiful moment of passion with her lips pressed to Alec's blood-smeared ones. But when she finally retracted from the kiss, Alec was barely able to take in a breath. _Shit! I didn't over-stimulate his senses, didn't I? I was just trying to keep him awake! _

"Don't worry Alec. Just... just hang in there, you hear? You'll be all right. You're always all right!" Her eyes filled with tears. She tightly gripped Alec's hand and ran her free hand on his arms – revealing how cool and clammy his skin felt.

Alec nodded feebly as he clutched Max's hand which was covered entirely with his blood. Amidst his excruciating pain and fear, he wondered if his death would make Max see her hands in the state they were in now for the rest of her life – his **blood**, on her hands... his **life**, on her hands... his **death**... _on her hands. _He knew full well how Max dealt with herself – always carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. He knew she would wallow in guilt so deep if he died on her, that's why he should at least _try _to keep her from punishing herself by putting up a fight with Death.

"It's okay, M-maxie. I'm... I'm... here, I'm h-here. I'm not... g-g.. g-gonna leave... you. I'm not... aah... gonna... l-lee... l-leave you."

_o0o_

He was right in front of her. _Hurt._ He was bleeding profusely on the cold concrete floor in the equally cold, frigif night air. His face was pale, tired and strained. But that's not what caught her attention the most. Alec was _pouring _an ounce of his_ life_ every passing second. Alec was _dying _and he was reassuring _her_.

Then, in a blur of mess, Max heard the rumble of the rescue vehicle and two X4s from TC's Medical Bay came to view, carrying a collapsed stretcher. They tore Alec's limp body from her grip, ripping off his soaked shirt, drying off his chest with a rug.

Max was in shock, she couldn't move; she could have gotten him killed. If Alec died, it would be her fault. The slamming of the door made her look up to her surroundings: the paramedics, laden with kit, were fussing around them. She swayed slightly as a rush of relief made her light-headed. She watched, holding her breath and willing Alec to live.

"What happened?" Joseph, an X4 who was a professionally trained field medic back at Manticore asked Max as he tried to keep an oxygen mask over Alec's face and began to link the injured X5 up with wires.

"He was trying to save me, trying to be a hero...that's why he was stabbed at the back." She ripped the words from the very core of her heart and she felt sick to say them out loud – her deepest fears exposed.

The paramedics then started to inspect Alec's wound. They pulled the blood-soaked rug from his chest, revealing the stab wound on his back gushing with a frightening amount of blood.

"He's hurt really badly." the other paramedic with polar bear DNA named "Bear" immediately gave Max a blanket to wrap around Alec and a towel to stem the blood flow of the wound on his back.

Joseph fished out a mini flashlight from his pocket to check Alec's pupil reaction. No reflexes: his pupils fixed, dilated, and unresponsive to a light source. _This is bad, really bad_. He thought to himself as he knew this was a sign of an impending death.

_o0o_

Alec vaguely heard Joseph's voice telling him to look at him and stay awake. The adrenaline to fight for his life had left his system and the stab wound and the blood loss was finally taking its toll on him.

Looming over Alec's vulnerable form, Max couldn't help but feel utterly guilty over her fellow transgenic's suffering. But she was sure it wasn't just about the pain he was enduring right now. While she was grateful for the knight-in-shining-armor routine, she couldn't let him risk his life for her. Alec's life had always tethered along the fine line that divides courage and sheer stupidity.

She felt a sickening sensation gnaw on her guts when looking at Alec suddenly conjured up memories of his fallen brother, Ben. And it wasn't just the fact that Alec looked as pale and helpless as Ben did seconds before she had snapped one of her favorite sibling's neck as if he was no more than the chicken she had eaten the morning of that sick and twisted day. No, it was hardly about their resemblance, it was more about the fact that whatever happened to Ben's younger twin now, it would be on her soul, _again_.

Whether it was her mind's morbid way of blocking out the reality that Alec was bleeding his life out in front of her, Max wasn't sure, but somehow Ben's image paved the way for a whole new train of thought to course through her genetically enhanced brain - temporarily blocking out the horrors circling her entire being.

She found herself asking, _"Why did I have to make you suffer for what I've done, for what Ben had done, for who Ben was?"_ and it shook her to the very core. She remembered that night, when she had told Alec about what she'd been forced to do to save Ben, to save herself. She had expected to hear remorse in his tone, to see disbelief in his eyes, to read condemnation on his face, because for all the wrongs Alec had done to her, she had done all that and more, to make sure her message had hit home - she _despised_ him. But instead of condemning her soul, Alec had reached out for it, enveloped it in his gentle but warm embrace and kissed some of its blemishes away. Alec had held her against his heart and uttered an equally broken _"I'm sorry, Max."_

Looking back to the here and now, she wondered if she truly despised him even before that moment, or if she only wanted retribution through his pain. It was an extremely bitter pill to swallow - the fact that she had been quick to forgive a brother who had tortured innocent lives for a figment of his imagination, but not his twin who didn't have as much a choice as any of them did - who had been tortured and brainwashed in that hellhole a decade longer than she and her "traitor" siblings had and did penance for it for half a year - who had been utterly broken he had grown not to care and simply curled into himself.

_**All because of what I had done, what Ben had done, what Ben had been**. _

Turning her gaze back to where her derailed train of thought eventually lead, Max could only wish that he didn't have to have been stabbed just so she would take the time to realize where she and Alec stood. Alec was her center now. Alec was no longer shrouded by the shadow of her beloved brother. Alec was a changed man, plain and simple. He was now her _anchor_ in this world, her _partner,_ her _best friend_... and no matter how much she might have unintentionally hurt him, Alec always had her back.

Max felt the cold air rush towards them. In the comfort of darkness, she let out an uncharacteristic sob and leaned against her partner with no strength left in her. She wrapped her arms tightly around him, keeping him close as she wept into his shoulder. There was no need for her to act tough at times like this. Words could not comfort her any longer. Alec needed a comforting touch, a friend to lean on, someone who could share his pain.

"It's okay, Max. You can let go now." Joseph ordered gently as he lifted Alec's shirt away. Alec's blood pressure was erratic and unstable. The paramedics knew they had to transport him soon.

Just as when the paramedics carefully picked him up, gently depositing him on the gurney, they all heard the high-pitched sound of the heart monitor's flat line.

"Man, we're losing him! He has no pulse," Bear yelled as he grabbed the paddles from the defibrillator and charged them up.

"Okay, bag him." Joseph ordered as he began pressing on Alec's chest to stimulate some reaction from the heart. "Give him 20 of epinephrine. We got anything?"

"Nothing."

Max stepped back. Backing away as far as she could in the enclosed space, she watched as the paramedics began compressions to force life back to him.

Alec felt the presence of death slowly crawled up his spine. As he slowly drifted, the darkness began to embrace him and reinforced the fact that anytime soon, he would _die_. He felt his life slowly fading away. Death was close by. Slowly, he closed his eyes. He had expected death to be cold, but he felt himself rather warm. _Numbness... his final sleep... the bliss of non-existence._

_Warmth._

_Humming, somewhere close by._

_Brightness._

He opened his eyes, shocked by the brightness. This was different than he'd expected. It took a few moments for his eyes to focus as he looked over towards the humming.

Just because he was dying, didn't mean Death himself could stop Alec from being true to form and making a smart-ass remark, even if it was only inside his head.

_Dude, I full on swayze'd that mother! _ He thought light-heartedly as he looked over the scene unfolding before him which made him think of that ancient romance film he once saw on his boob tube. If only he wasn't choking on his own blood, he could say the words out loud and make Max proud by stealing from her favourite pre-pulse TV character's book, maybe even tease her about said TV character because whether Max admitted it or not, _Dean Westchester _or Dean whatever looked a lot like _him_, enough to consider the possibility that he possessed some of the actor's DNA.

The sound of the clock was the only thing he could hear. This was his life and it's ending one minute at a time. If he woke up in a different place in a different time, was it possible to wake up as a different person? Or could he still be the same Alec – _Max's_ Alec?

He really couldn't see what they were doing, nor did he particularly care. It felt like he was floating, or maybe it was because his soul was hovering somewhere. Either way, he didn't care about that either. The light was calling him and it was so enticing. Suddenly, images of Rachel came to mind. Rachel wasn't angry at him anymore... Rachel was playing Mozart in a grand piano in heaven... Rachel was with Biggs and all the many friends he lost at Manticore, and the scene was so beautiful he could feel his heart bursting at the seams.

But then, another voice called him. "Alec!" the familiar voice commanded. "Listen to me. _You will not die_! You hear me? Fight it, Alec. Fight, damn it!"

**Max**. He loved Rachel, but he loved Max _more_. Plus, he made a promise not to leave her. _Stick your deal to where the sun don't shine, Swayze-y Light, 'cause I'm stayin' with Maxie!_

"Okay, charge the paddles 250. Clear." Joseph glanced at his partner who shook his head negatively. "Charge 300. Clear."

Still flat line, no blips to indicate that anything they did had any effect. Max closed her eyes and let her grief wash over her. Bowing her head on her knees, she let the tears come. Wishing there was something she could do, someone she could hold on to other than her dying partner.

"He's not responding," the same voice said.

"Intubate him and prepare some epinephrine."

Bear sighed but complied with the order anyway and gave Alec a shot of epinephrine. Joseph was now charging the paddles and the whine of a monotone beep filled the air.

"350...clear!" Alec's body leapt from the table as a V-tach rhythm appeared briefly and then faded.

Again, no rhythm.

"He's not getting enough blood to the heart. Give him another 0.3mg Epinephrine IV Push!" Joseph yelled to his partner.

"He's had too much epi on board...he's flooded out on fluids. He's drowning, damn it!"

"Let's try once more, push another amp of epinephrine and flush...charge to 400. Charge it...Now!" Joseph placed the paddles in mid air and found an undisturbed spot on Alec's breast bone and placed the paddles once more. "Clear." he screamed as Bear stepped back.

_Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep..._ The soft beeping of a heart monitor was the only noise they heard as Alec fought to hold on to his life which was very nearly snuffed out just a while ago.

"We got a pulse!" Bear finally shouted. "Let's stabilize him."

"Is he breathing now?" Joseph asked his work partner.

Bear checked the pulse. "Yeah, he is. He's breathing, but it's really slow."

"What are his vitals?"

"His B/P is 90/40, respiration is 6, shallow, and labored, pulse is 132 and thready." He turned to Joseph and said, "We need to get him back to TC immediately. He needs to have a blood transfusion STAT!"

"Give him mine." Max said as Bear's orders jolted her out of her stupor. Finally, there was something she could do to help.

Both Bear and Joseph's heads swiveled to her in confusion, eyes practically asking her if their ears heard right.

"I know," Max whispered, having pegged straight away the reason to their baffled looks. "We're not exactly friends... but... he saved my life and I _want_ to do this for him. Please do it."

Simultaneously, the two X4s nodded and produced an IV catheter and stuck a needle into Max's already waiting arms. Max watched as her blood flowed into the tube and into Alec's arms. _Take some of my life in you, Alec._

"Will he be ok?" Max croaked out through the nails grinding her throat, her vision swimming with tears not shed.

Joseph took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Well, it's not pretty. The damage is so much worse than we thought. We can't be sure until we examine him more carefully."

"He's hypotensive, Max. He _needs _to stay with us," Bear finally said. His voice seemed detached. Alec wanted to respond, but his mind couldn't string together words, much less spit them out.

"He's entering hypovolemic shock! Come on, Alec, don't do this to us, man!"

Max closed her eyes and reminded herself to keep the panic attack at bay. She couldn't draw any attention away from Alec right now.

_Alec…you stupid ass! You should've just let me handle my own thing. You're the dumbest thing that Manticore ever put together in a test tube!_

She opened her eyes again and Joseph asked if she'd like a tissue.

When she just stared at him with a quizzical look. Joseph grabbed a tissue and wipe under her eye. He handed the tissue to her.

_Tears…_She was appalled. _This crying needs to stop now. Alec needs me. I can't be a weakling._

A little voice in the back of her head told her he might not make it.

_Shut it! I don't know if I could handle that!_

_"I'm sorry... I love you."_ Max whispered quietly to herself.

"Hmm?" asked Bear.

She just shook her head and repeated those words over and over in her mind.

The paramedics opened the door to the rescue truck and slid Alec's body, one holding an IV bag while the other one tried to keep things that might bump Alec as he was wheeled into the vehicle.

In a couple of minutes, the rescue took off in the dark of the night, carrying the barely alive X5-494 – _Alec_ – the man whom all of TC loved and respected, the man whom Max now realized she indeed _loved_.

_Fallen angels at my feet_

_Whispered voices at my ear_

_Death before my eyes_

_Lying next to me, I fear_

_She beckons me, shall I give in?_

_Upon my end, shall I begin?_

_Forsaking all I've fallen for_

_Will I rise to meet my end?_

_*Don't turn away _

_[Don't give in to the pain]_

_Don't try to hide _

_[Though they're screaming your name]_

_Don't close your eyes_

_[God knows what lies behind them]_

_Don't turn out the ligh_t

_[Never sleep, never die]_

**_-Evanescence-_**

_o0o_

Whew! This chapter has been incredibly hard to write! A little motivation from you guys wouldn't hurt. Please tell me if this is going nowhere and I'll just discontinue and channel all my energy into something more productive. :) And please, please, do check out my other fan fiction, "Never Was And Never Will Be" (a DA/SPN crossover) and tell me whether or not to continue that one as well. To those who are going to R&R, thank you and GOD BLESS!


	4. All That's Real and True

A/N: Okie dokie! Faster update this time since I got tons of help (and since I got a lot of PMs of encouragement). To all of the readers who added this crappy story to your favourites/story alerts, thank you very, very much! Now I feel bad for being such a wuss in the previous chapter's notes.

A/N#2: Once again, you have author **charmcrystals** to thank for the completion of this chapter! Her medical expertise is what's going to make you hurt!Alec suckers go gaga over this part. Haha! UNNI, a big KAMSAHAMNIDA to you! You know I love you forever and ever, right? You're an awesome person and I'll scream it to the rooftops! Also, I'd like ya'll to know that my writing style is inspired by many accomplished Dark Angel fan fiction writers here, namely: **Cheryl W**, **inzane73, aflightoffancy, circleofstars, Siara Elen, miashay**, et cetera, so if you're looking for REAL Dark Angel/MA goodness, you oughta visit their pages (although I would be very grateful if you choose to read the fan fics in my page as well).

A/N#3: This week's recommended stories would be: **"Writhe" by Thru Terry's Eyes**. Story's stupendous so you gotta make sure to drop the author a line. Also, if AMC's **The Walking Dead** is your cup o' tea, you should check out author **The Cocky Undead's "The Beginning of the End"**, another awesome piece of work that I think deserves more credit than it is receiving now. Lastly, if you guys might be so kind, please do check out my dear friends' (**charmcrystals **and** Oyaji Murakami's**) works.

DISCLAIMER:_ NOT MINE! NOT MINE! NOT MINE!_ It's bad enough that I don't get enough attention and remuneration for this fan fiction. Why do ya still have to rub it in my face that friggin' Alec McDowell ain't mine? Geez!

_o0o_

As the rescue team arrived in Command, the door to the infirmary immediately swung open and Alec was wheeled inside on a gurney, Max running not too far behind him. Joseph and Bear were still working by Alec's side as another medic joined them upon entry. The medic immediately began asking questions as he quickly slipped on a pair of latex gloves.

"What've we got?" Rain, an Asian-looking male X5 with stallion DNA, asked as he began working with the two X4s on Alec.

"Alec's got an 8-inch wound in his back from where he was stabbed just fifteen minutes ago. Knife penetrated through his lung, too." Joseph filled Rain in on the situation.

Rain ripped Alec's shirt open further around the wound and bent closer for a quick inspection, pulling on the grave cut gingerly as it welled with blood. Alec looked ghastly. His clammy skin was bone grey and his breathing was a harsh rattle as his one functioning lung tried to draw in enough oxygen. Grimly, he noted that things were even worse than he thought. As he had feared, Alec had developed a tension pneumothorax and it had caused a dangerous amount of air to build up around his lungs. Rain could not be sure without tests, but he was sure that Alec's lungs had collapsed, but more serious was the pressure that had been exerted on his coronary arteries. As a result, Alec had gone into shock and there was now a serious chance that he could die.

He knew he had to move fast. He needed to perform needle decompression on Alec now.

"Shea," Rain said grimly, his handsome face marred with thinly veiled apprehension. "Prep the chest tube."

Moving fast, the kind-faced transgenic nurse who called herself "Shea" grabbed the chest tube and betadine swabs. Rain swiftly swabbed the skin between Alec's ribs and tore open the bag that contained the tube.

"I'm sorry, Alec," he said. "This is really going to hurt."

Alec was too far gone to answer. His eyes shifting beneath closed lids, his skin now tinged blue from lack of oxygen. His own pulse racing, Rain took a deep breath and began to expertly insert the chest tube. It was much tougher than he remembered doing it. Hard as he pushed, it seemed like the damn thing just wouldn't go in.

Max anxiously watched the procedure while Rain placed his stethoscope on Alec's chest. She was too preoccupied with her own fears that she barely registered Joshua, Mole and Dalton's presence beside her.

"What happened to Medium Fella, Little Fella?" the sound of Joshua's grave question, coupled with the dog-man's pleading eyes, sent a dagger much bigger than the one that had fatally wounded Alec to Max's heart. She closed her eyes as she tried to come up with an answer that wouldn't turn her into a puddle on the floor afterwards.

"Got stabbed... because of me." Max confessed brokenly, legs wobbling like jelly. Both Joshua and Mole seized her by the shoulders as her knees threatened to give way. When she was back on her feet, she began taking a few steps forward – away from Dalton's look of utter disbelief, away from Mole's scrutinizing gaze, away from Joshua's barely contained whimpers of despair, away from the rest of Terminal City's stares which shouted "_THIS IS YOUR FAULT!_".

"Sounds good," she heard Rain say as the medic confirmed that the tube was situated properly. "I want him hyperventilated for now. Let's get his 02 SAT's up."

Glancing over his shoulder, Rain shouted, "Start Plasbumin 25%, IV piggyback now and draw a CBC, Chem panel, ABG and stat chest x-ray. Prep him for an arterial and central line placement as well. Also, we need to go in and clamp the artery. It's the only way to stop the bleeding. Bambi, prep some blood."

Before the doe-eyed transgenic that Rain called "Bambi" could make her move, Alec's body suddenly began to convulse, his abdomen trembling while his extremities went into spasms, causing his body to jerk violently.

"Seizure!" Rain alerted his staff as they hurried to take appropriate action. "Valium, 10 milligrams, IV push, over two minutes. Repeat it in fifteen minutes," he instructed.

Bambi hurried over to the gurney and gave the medication when suddenly the heart monitor beeped madly. "Rain, his heart rate's increasing!"

Max's head swivelled to the heart rate monitor, the incessant beeping flooding her senses. She started to panic. Nothing they were giving him was working. But she wasn't going to give up.

Suddenly Alec stopped convulsing and lay still. The monitor's frantic beeping lowered to a steady beeping, showing that his heart rate was normal.

"Rain, he's in stage 2 of hypovolemic shock and is bordering on stage 3. His BP is 90/40 and we're starting an IV to try to bring it up. Temp's 98.5 and is rapidly fluctuating." Bambi said as she tried to monitor Alec's crucial vitals.

This was not good. Alec was letting out feeble moans of pain, his head jerking beneath the oxygen mask, sweat beading his forehead. His breathing started to quicken, shallow gasps that frightened Max far more than she cared to admit.

Her heart contracting painfully over the fear of what all these could mean, Max glanced at Rain who was working feverishly to tend to his duties in saving Alec's life. She saw him focus ... and his fear... they went to her briefly. He was engrossed in his task as well, but she saw the frequent worried glances he kept giving Alec.

"His BP is still too low at 90 over 40." Shea informed the frantic medic. "At this rate, he could arrest at any moment." She added tersely, causing Max to tense up even more, the chords in her neck standing out beneath her skin.

"Clear his airway and intubate him." Rain ordered as Bambi prepared the airway management and respiratory equipment across to Shea who was standing next to Alec's head. Once the respiratory tube was in place, Rain shouted, "Hook up 1800ml blood and 800ml crystalloids and let's prep to perform surgery. NOW!"

A sudden beeping had Max's neck snapping up in panic as the medics looked worriedly at the heart rate monitor.

"Shit! He's back in v-tach!" The X5 medic watched in horror as Bambi and Shea got the defibrillator out. Max grimaced as she heard the familiar whine and the thud that followed it. She ignored the tubes and wires and machines attached to Alec and ran to his bedside, clutching his hand tightly to let him know she was near him.

"Alec, you can't die! I don't give a damn if you're conscious or not but you have to listen to me. Don't die... Please, please, don't do this to me!" Max felt everything drain from her. She felt the pain rush through her body. Her breath caught briefly as she stared at him, expecting him to say something, anything. Her heart felt like it was way too big for her chest. She wanted the ache to end, to stop the daggers incessantly piercing her soul, but she knew that her pain was nothing compared to what physical agony Alec was enduring right now.

Slightly irked by the unnecessary interruption, Rain pushed Max away and charged the paddles to start reviving him again. "You can't die Alec. You hear me, buddy? Not on my watch."

"Clear…" he yelled. Everyone backed away. He hit the button and sent the jolt racing through Alec's body.

"Again," he said. Around him, the medical staff exchanged looks of skepticism, but obeyed nonetheless.

"Clear!" Rain yelled ferociously, causing some of the female medics to jump back in shock from his aggressiveness.

Scowling deeply in frustration, Rain cranked up the dial to the highest level, thinking about nothing but bringing Alec back. As the button was pressed once again, Alec's body started shaking violently as the unnatural wave of electricity coursed through his veins.

"We've got a pulse. It's weak but it's there." Bambi yelled forcefully, the sudden surge of hope causing her voice to strain.

Rain's head snapped up from his chest to look at the heart monitor which, sure enough, had a weak but steady line going up and down as Alec's heart struggled to pump blood through his veins.

"We need to get him into surgery. STAT!" the now profusely sweating X5 yelled.

"We're ready!" Shea yelled.

"He's still losing a lot of blood. We need another transfusion." Bambi initiated, looking over the sea of faces waiting outside the infirmary.

Dalton was the first one to step up, the young X6 dying to do anything for his beloved hero. "Let me. Alec had given me his blood too many times before."

"I'll do it." Max said, ignoring Dalton's proposition.

"I'll do it. Boy got shot at the siege because I was using him as human shield. I owe him." Mole said, swallowing the bitter lump in his throat at the revelation.

Max was surprised by the lizard-man's admission, even more so by the depth of concern he saw in the aloof transhumant's eyes. But she did not let any of these muddle her resolve. "I'll do it."

"Joshua do it for Medium Fella. Joshua Medium Fella's big brother. My responsibility." Joshua offered unerringly, his eyes practically beseeching.

Rain took in the somber expressions of all the transgenics before him and was surprised to find out that practically every single person in Terminal City was willing to bleed for their Second-in-Command. Then again, he knew he shouldn't be surprised at all. Everyone cared for Alec because Alec cared for everyone. He might have started out selfish, but as the months went by after the siege, the young X5 took it upon himself to take care of these people – to feed them, to lead them, to steal for them, to _bleed_ for them. Even Rain knew that he was willing to give his own blood to his friend himself, if only blood loss wouldn't get in the way of the medical procedures he was about to perform. After all, it was Alec who had risked his life at supply runs to get most of the vital medical equipments for them. He just wished that Alec didn't wind up being the one who needed them badly.

Rain's train of thought was interrupted by Max running to the supply cabinet. Snagging out an IV bag, TC's Commanding Officer didn't as much flinch as she embedded a needle to her left arm, sending more lifeblood to the bag for Alec to take.

"No one else is getting hurt tonight because of me! I got this." Max said sternly, swaying a bit as the double transfusion slowly took its toll on her.

Joshua was by her side in an instant, anchoring her as her legs became shaky. When the dog-man decided that she'd given blood enough to give Alec a fighting chance, he retracted the needle and handed the gory blood bag to Bambi's waiting hands.

Shea pushed the door to the infirmary slightly in an attempt to ward them off. "Surgery might take a few hours. Just wait here. We'll tell you when there's something you need to know."

_o0o_

To sit patiently in the waiting room was a hard task to complete, especially if Max was waiting for the result of Alec's surgery. Several X-series with surgical masks over their faces, many of them completely unfamiliar to Max, walked into the hallway as they desperately took turns to save Alec's life.

Every single transgenic soul was keeping a hawk's eye at the door. Finally, after five long hours which felt like forever, the medic bot was finished and the infirmary opened. Rain came out looking completely dishevelled and it made Max's heart jump like a scared bunny inside her ribcage.

Aside from looking completely haggard, Rain seemed uncertain, but went on telling them anyways. "Okay..." he took a deep breath before continuing."I must say, it was a tough one. He coded twice on the table, not to mention when he had to be revived on scene. The knife that was used to stab him penetrated his mid back and exited his lower chest- upper stomach. It penetrated the bottom of his lung and chipped a rib; it was through and through and nothing vital was hit. He went into hypovolemic shock due to the amount of blood lost, so we are currently giving him a transfusion, thanks to your blood. He did catch a slight case of hypothermia, but we have him on intravenous fluids plus some heating blankets. We also managed to repair his lung good enough that he's breathing on his own, but we will keep him on observation for at least three days before we release him, which by the way he'll need to stay with someone. We're expecting him to make a full recovery."

A collective sigh of relief reverberated within the walls of the waiting room, followed by the unusual rasp of Max's voice which was most likely due to the long hours of misuse. "Can... can I see him now?"

Rain nodded. "Yes. But he's still out from the anaesthetics. It will take a few hours before he wakes up but you can see him now if you like."

Sparing a furtive glance at the inhabitants of TC, Max was more than grateful to find no trace of hostility in their faces - just sheer relief at the knowledge that Alec had pulled through, and surprisingly enough, _understanding_ of her need to see him first before anyone else. It took every little ounce of her transgenic strength not to break down over the relief that Rain's news had brought when Joshua enveloped her in a tight embrace and kissed the top of her head. The gesture was so reminiscent of Alec's that she briefly closed her eyes at the memory.

Breaking away from Joshua's arms and patting the dog-man's shoulders reassuringly, Max allowed Rain to lead her to Alec's room.

A strangled gasp escaped from her lips when he saw Alec's inert form resting on the bed. She raced to him and sat beside the bed. She stared at his innocent face. It made her heart bleed further to see his obvious suffering and helplessness, even in sleep. This wasn't Alec. This wasn't _her_ Alec. Her Alec was a wily young man who couldn't spend a minute sitting motionless in a chair. Her Alec couldn't stop his mouth from blabbering nonsense even though it earned him an upside-down smack in the head from her. Her Alec had held his own as far as he could against a Familiar even with a gunshot wound on the arm. Her Alec was a picture of _life _and dancing colors, not vulnerability and mortifying grey.

"Max, I have to leave. Let me know if anything happens."

"Thank you, Rain. TC owes you its _leader's_ life." _I owe you his life... __**my**__ life._

"I didn't do it alone. There was Shea and Bambi, Bear, Jo... others." Rain waved the gratitude off, but Max could see the slight tint of pink beneath his worn-out features.

"Still, thank you." She said simply, and meant every single word.

She watched Rain as he left and then turned back to Alec. A small smile graced her lips and her vision turned watery once again. Alec was attached to so many machines it made her swallow hard. Thankfully, his breathing tube had been removed and he was breathing on his own. He did have a small oxygen catheter in his nose. A chest tube hung out from a large bandage on his left side and was draining into a container on a cart. His heart monitor beeped regularly, reassuring her he was alive. The contusions on his chest were brighter than they had been before.

He had bandages on his chest which was uncovered and a sheet was draped over him from the stomach down. She knew that the stitches on his back would most likely leave a scar if the damage done to his body dampened the natural process of his transgenic healing.

Max felt the numbness that had overcome her all day wear off, and she cried openly. She let out painful sobs, gripping the hospital bed sheets until her knuckles turned white. Crying always made the pain fly away, but not tonight. The pain would not go away seeing Alec like this.

Suddenly, her breaths felt shorter than usual. Had she been crying too much? Perhaps she had cried out all the water in her body and her organs were drying out.

She swallowed, feeling a lump form in her throat. Finally, she took his hand on hers and stroked the dark-blonde bangs curtaining his forehead. She kissed his fingertips softly and whispered in his ear: "You did great, you know... holding on to your life like that...

"It's not like you've got other options though. You know what I'm gonna do if you chose the easy way out?

"Nothing severe, really. I'll just have them carve your original name to your tombstone. Ya know: "_Dick_".

"I love you, Dick "_Alec_" McDowell...

"You better heal soon, 'cause even though I love you, I haven't forgotten that you still owe me one ass-kicking. Nope, make that two, pretty boy, for scaring me shitless."

_Sitting beside you_

_Listening to you breathe_

_The light that dies inside of you_

_Burns inside of me_

_Hold on and speak to me_

_Of love without a sound_

_Tell me you will live through this_

_Cast me not away_

_Say you'll be with me_

_For I know_

_I cannot bear it all alone_

_You're not alone, honey_

_Never, never alone_

_-_**Evanescence-**

_o0o_

**I'm tinkering about ending the story here because I think I've already criss-crossed all my brain cells in completing this chapter (actually, I'd intended this to be a short song-fic. Dunno how I winded up turning it to multi-chapter). What do you guys want though? More hurt!Alec? Some complications perhaps? More fluff and romance? Logan Cale entering the scene? Sahaaay huwhatchu whatchu want, if you have a dream for better (sorry, big Evanescence fan here, in case ya'll didn't notice)! Dunno if I'll be able to update fast enough, though. I think I'm going to be busy with the sports fest next month but regardless, I'd like you to review 'cause it's what I live for in here. To those who will R&R, thank you and GOD BLESS YOU!**

**P.S. **

**More suggestions regarding my other fan fic, "Never Was And Never Will Be" are very much appreciated. KAMSAHAMNIDA to you all!**


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